| Author | Message | ||
     Union_man |
Why is it that motorcycle shops avoid mounting internet tires? | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Because they make money on selling tires, so they want you to buy theirs. | ||
| Union_man |
That can't be all there is to it. | ||
| Itileman |
Warranty-liability issues may have something to do with it. Tires could be old inventory, factory seconds, etc. This is a litigious society.  | ||
| Etennuly |
Well actually, yeah it can be. If you went to a dentist and took your own fillings to put in your tooth, would they do it? Sure you would pay them labor, but would they do it? If they charge you a $20.00 fee for installing the tire, by the time they handle it from your hand to theirs, through the processes of installation, back to you, the time spent by the service representative, billing, then the other processes of recording the transaction, handling the sales tax, income tax, and two people's wages for a short time, they certainly are not making money. And then you will expect a warranty. What if they scratch your rim or the tire has a flaw that may not be their fault. The tire manufacturer will blame them for it. Smaller shops can make it profitable by not having to feed the 'machine' that is a dealership. | ||
| Ghostrider |
The trick here is to find shops that give the "we'll match any price" gimmicks. I've done that with both the HD/Buell shop here as well as with a local shop. I get the tire I want and it gets installed. Although, I hate going to the stealerships to get them installed because it's generally $80 per wheel. There's a local guy here who doesn't sell tires, but will mount them cheap, so the internet works good for that. | ||
| Swampy |
Learn to change tires yourself, it is a very satisfying afternoon experience, and you can scratch you rims yourself so you won't have to blame anybody else. Tire tools can be had for cheap. | ||
| Cumminspowered |
I agree Swampy, but you don't have to scratch your rims. http://www.nomartirechanger.com/ Several of the guys I ride with have their own changers, they work great. | ||
| Ulynut |
Learn to change tires yourself, it is a very satisfying afternoon experience, and you can scratch you rims yourself so you won't have to blame anybody else. Tire tools can be had for cheap. Amen. There are lots of videos on youtube to teach you. (Message edited by ulynut on March 13, 2010) | ||
| Someday |
Here's another mounting tool, this is the one I bought and it works great! http://no-scufftiretool.com/index.html | ||
| Crusty |
I've done my own motorcycle tires since the '70s; I learned to change bicycle tires when I was nine or ten years old (late 50s). When I worked as a motorcycle mechanic, tire changes were the only thing I could beat the flat rate on. Last year, I finally got tired of changing tires on my knees, and bought a NoMar tire changer. Life is good. | ||
| Ulyscol |
I was always told that the tires coming by way of the internet back in the 90's were always factory seconds. A lot of local shops here wouldn't touch 'em because they couldn't properly balance them. | ||
| Mojo |
This looks great. What was the final cost to get setup? What about balancing? | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
Cycle Gear mounted my internet tires no problem. They charge $30/wheel for your own tires instead of $20/wheel if you buy theirs. | ||
| Swampy |
Balancing stands can be had from Harbor Freight for $40-$60, I don't remember the exact price. I have a friend that is a machinist and he drilled up and turned some aluminum to fit on a half inch hardened steel rod and some bearings, it came out to $60 with out the nice Harbor Freight(think China) stand. | ||
| Crusty |
I was always told that the tires coming by way of the internet back in the 90's were always factory seconds. A lot of local shops here wouldn't touch 'em because they couldn't properly balance them. Somebody's blowing smoke up your ass. The last time I had a tire changed at a shop was at Daytona in 2004. (I underestimated how much life was left in the tire) It cost me $275.00. Last week, I bought a pair of Dunlop Roadsmart tires (12/70-17 & 180/55 - 17) delivered to my house for $255.00. I balance my own tires, and I have had no trouble balancing Internet tires. My wallet is a lot heavier with the Internet tires, though. I figure something like $200.00 heavier per bike. We're a four bike family; that's savings enough to go to Indianapolis and see the Mile and the Moto GP. | ||
| Teeps |
I change my own tires too; but only because of access to one of these: http://www.ammcoats.com/products_tire.aspx?id=118 "Back-in-the-Day", we were known to change tires for a six pack of Bud. | ||
| Ulynut |
I balance mine on a set of jack stands. Just put your axle across the stands, level it with a small torpedo level, run the axle through the wheel and put it on the stand. Instant poor boy balancer. | ||
| 7873jake |
+1 on Ulynut's suggestion and there are even little compact wheel balancers for around a hundred that can make a pair of jackstands even more precise if things like that help you sleep at night. http://www.aerostich.com/compact-wheel-balancer.ht ml | ||
| Crusty |
For around a hundred, you can get a good wheel balancing stand from NoMar, and it's made in the USA, as well. | ||
| Union_man |
+1 made in USA!!! | ||
| 7873jake |
Thanks for the NoMar stand info Crusty. Hadn't seen that one before tonight. | ||
| Froggy |
NoMar has a econo brand of stuff called Cycle Hill. It is cheaper to compete more with Harbor Freight. The difference is that the CH stuff is intended for home use while NoMar is more industrial. Many of the things in the Cycle Hill kit are literally the same things from NoMar. http://www.webbikeworld.com/r4/cycle-hill-motorcyc le-tire-changer/ $555 for the super duper includes everything pack, I will be getting one once I figure out how to install it. | ||
| Someday |
Check out this wheel balancer, simple and effective. They even make a Buell specific model. http://marcparnes.com/ | ||
| Cumminspowered |
Froggy, If your're referring to how to keep it upright without being hooked to a truck or bolted to your floor, try a piece of plywood. The no-mar's my friends all have are bolted about a foot in from the corner of a 3/4" thick and 4x6' chunk of plywood. You stand on plywood while using the changer which holds it in place yet keeps it portable. You can slide it into a corner out of the way and drag it out when you need it. Mount the balancer to a roll around cart and keep your supplies and small parts handy. | ||
| Ulynut |
I don't understand the advantage of the Aerostitch or Marcparnes "balancers". Your bike has an axle you can use that does the same thing. The axle is good enough to hold the wheel, loaded, at 100+mph, why wouldn't it hold steady at like 20 rpm? $100.00 feels better in my pocket than in theirs. | ||
| Etennuly |
Some of the bearings in the wheels turn hard enough that they cause resistance that makes balancing difficult if not inaccurate. Those fancy balancers have their own easy rolling bearings. | ||
| Ulynut |
Got it.  | ||
| Froggy |
Interesting, I was wondering if something like that would work. The garage is not mine, I don't want to do anything permanent. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Whether a shop's reluctance to install internet purchased products has nothing to do with it or not, I don't know. Shops may not even be aware of this, but there was an expose on one of the network news channels a while back on the shelf life of rubber and how many tire shops out there are selling tires as new, which are, in fact, up to several years old. There have been many recorded instances low mileage tires failing due to the age of the tire when it was sold new. The report was on car tires, but I can imagine we might find the same issue with M/C tires. If on-line tire vendors are able to make a profit selling tires as hugely discounted rates, it might be worth looking into the manufacture dates of these products. Personally, I would want the freshest rubber possible on a two wheeled vehicle that will frequently be transporting my body at near triple digit speeds. How fresh is the rubber we are buying from internet vendors? |
